Natural hazards · Belle Chasse

Belle Chasse, LA natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Belle Chasse comes from hurricanes, and overall the risk is very high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 20 claims here since 1988. 9 federal disasters brought FEMA money into town.

FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025 · OpenFEMA claims, aid & declarations

Expected damage

How exposed is Belle Chasse?

Very high

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Belle Chasse to be higher than in 95% of U.S. communities, mostly from hurricanes.

Hurricanes75%Inland flooding15%Everything else10%

By hazard

What Belle Chasse faces

Each hazard’s share of the damage FEMA expects here, and how that compares with the rest of the country.

Hurricanes

75% of expected damage

Well above average · among the top 1% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 4 years in the area

Inland flooding

15% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 44% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 4 years in the area

Lower here

Coastal floodingTornadoesHailIce stormsWinter weatherCold wavesHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningDrought

Not a risk here

AvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic activity

Flood risk changes street by street. Check a specific address on FEMA’s flood map, and ask about flood insurance before you buy.

Flood insurance claims

Does Belle Chasse flood?

Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Belle Chasse, from FEMA’s records.

20paid claims since 1988

$563Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

19882026

Biggest named events

Hurricane Katrina: 3 claims, $146K
Hurricane Ida: 3 claims, $27K
Hurricane Isaac: 2 claims, $12K

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Belle Chasse isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.

Insurance rates: Plaquemines Parish.

What’s been done with FEMA grants

45buildings retrofitted against wind

31homes raised above flood level

2buildings floodproofed

2storm safe rooms built

Disasters that hit Belle Chasse

9 federal disasters brought FEMA money here

Disasters the President declared that paid out in Belle Chasse itself: aid to households, or repair grants to Belle Chasse.

Brought FEMA money into Belle ChasseDeclared for Plaquemines Parish only

2021

Hurricane Ida

4,809 households applied for aid $5.4M aid approved

2020

Hurricane Zeta

286 households applied for aid $229K aid approved

2020

Hurricane Laura

1 household applied for aid

2012

Hurricane Isaac

2,440 households applied for aid $1.2M aid approved

2008

Hurricane Ike

86 households applied for aid $57K aid approved

2008

Hurricane Gustav

1,631 households applied for aid $333K aid approved

2005

Hurricane Rita

457 households applied for aid $474K aid approved

2005

Hurricane Katrina

7,388 households applied for aid $27.2M aid approved

2004

Hurricane Ivan

45 households applied for aid $45K aid approved

Plaquemines Parish has had 33 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often hurricanes and floods.

Around Belle Chasse

Belle Chasse and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Timberlanemostly hurricanesVery high

New Orleans Stationmostly hurricanesVery high

Belle Chassemostly hurricanesVery high

Terrytownmostly hurricanesVery high

Woodmeremostly hurricanesVery high

About these numbers

How to read this page

An average, not a forecastFEMA’s National Risk Index estimates the damage 18 kinds of natural hazards cause in a typical year, from decades of records and models. A quiet decade can follow a bad year.

Compared by rate“Higher than N%” compares yearly damage as a share of what’s here, so a big city isn’t rated riskier just for having more buildings. Belle Chasse covers 2 census tracts, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Belle Chasse’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to Belle Chasse. FEMA’s model follows property values, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.

FEMA’s expected losses across Belle Chasse total about $11.4M a year, counting buildings, people and crops.

Sources: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025); OpenFEMA: NFIP redacted claims, multiple-loss properties, community status book and residential penetration rates, housing assistance (owners and renters), public assistance funded projects, hazard mitigation properties and disaster declarations. Census tracts: U.S. Census Bureau.